This is Us

Totally agree with all of what you wrote! They skate so close to melodrama and sometimes I fear they'll tip over the edge. Not EVERY character has to be going through a Huge Life Crisis 24/7! (And somebody better slap Randall right-quick!)

And yet, I watch. Every. Single. Week. Still love this show!

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First of all, a big congratulations to Kevin Hooks for his BRILLIANT direction of ep 15, that was completely riveting despite the fact that almost the entire episode took place in the waiting room. The tension in that room was unbearable, a viable tension created by the director's eye and this wonderful ensemble of actors. The tension between Randall and Beth was unbearable, you can tell that this is the beginning of the end for them. Zoey has a lot of nerve being so judgmental of Kevin, on the other hand, when Kevin returned from the store with that bottle of water, I actually said to myself, "I bet that bottle has vodka in it." Miguel was completely annoying with that chocolate/ranch game as was Rebecca talking about electrical outlets and chairs, but she redeemed herself when she quieted that argument talking about the night Jack died. Can't believe Randall just expected Rebecca and Miguel to drop everything in their lives to take care of Randall's daughters. There was no excuse for Kevin being so rude to Madison and I have to say I am loving the evolution of the Madison character...from the way this character was initially introduced on the show to the love she shows for Kate now has been a joy to watch. And Chris Sullivan NAILED that speech when Toby came into the waiting room to announce the birth of his son. Kate named her son, Jack...what a shock...and she prays to Jack to make her son better? Jack was a lot of things, but he was no God...how about praying to God, Kate. Sometimes I want to shake the hell out of Kate and I want to slap Rebecca and I want Miguel to just go away, but I still love this stupid show.

Totally agree with everything you just wrote! It had the tension of a 12 Angry Men with its enclosed, confined space where these people were trapped.

Except that it was a bit unrealistic for everyone to have sat there that long, and then not eating, etc. Sorry, but I've sat in waiting rooms before. They would have taken turns running to the commissary to grab something REAL to eat. Some of them would have dashed out to take a shower or change. Frankly it would have been easier and simpler to do that earlier on before the baby came. My two cents on waiting rooms...

And of course they had her name the baby Jack. They hinted at it earlier in the episode, and of course I knew it would happen. How could this show NOT do that, right? And her praying to Jack irked me too, for the same reasons. Plus the reason that they purposely do this sort of thing to tug at the heart strings... because despite it feeling cheesy, I was still sniffling and crying over that stupid part.

I still love this stupid show too.

Solid direction from Ken Olin, some stinging dialogue, and sparkling performances made ep 16 a winner. What the hell is wrong with Randall? Is he deliberately trying to destroy his marriage? That voice mail he left Beth was totally out of line, fortunately, it ended up seriously biting him in the ass...loved that moment at the dinner table when he tried to take Beth's hand and she moved it away. That's when I knew she had already heard the voice mail. Sterling K Brown and Susan Kelechi Watson are magic together. Chris Sullivan did some of his finest work ever on this show as Toby confessed to Kate about his helplessness and fear about his son...that's what I love about Toby, he never lies to Kate, he might say nothing until he knows how to say it, but he never lies to her. I'm pretty sure I hate Zoe now...it's fine if she doesn't want children but that's something she should have told Kevin MONTHS ago and I can't help wondering if Kevin is going to regret choosing her over having children. Zoe is toxic. Loved the Kevin's reunion with Sophie after his meeting, though his question about Sophie and her fiancee having kids was inappropriate, despite what he was going through with Zoe. It was a great scene though. Couldn't stand the way Rebecca made that school dance all about herself, but why should that surprise me? Rebecca makes everything about herself. It ties my stomach up in knots, but I love this stupid show.

Ha! Our posts are getting to be deja vu. You post everything I'm thinking and then end with how you love this stupid show. Then I post that I totally agree with you.

Ditto, my friend. Ditto, again!

I think Kevin choosing Zoe is mostly him being so short-sighted. Sure, for RIGHT NOW Zoe is right in front of him so he chooses her over some nameless, unknown possible kid. Doesn't mean that'll always be his preference, though.

And Randall needs a good swift kick. Frankly, I couldn't believe how obnoxious he was about her tagging along to that dinner. It's JUST a DINNER. For a councilman, not a senator or anything. Sheesh. And if he's so concerned about time away from the kids, why wouldn't he just tell her to head home to the kids instead of having both of them spend yet another evening away from the kids?

Having said that, I'm also not a fan of one spouse "punishing" another with things like sleeping on the couch (or the cot). Never really solves anything, IMHO. But boy, did I empathize with her!

Well, it's official...Beth Pierson is now my favorite character on this show. I loved every move Beth made in ep 17 and agreed with everything she said (the nachos analogy was a little over the top). The flashing back to the beginning of their relationship was a very effective tool in displaying how Beth has lost herself in Randall, and I don't care what anyone says, including Randall. Beth proved to be her own person, who speaks and acts without filter when she read Randall the riot act for writing a check in that restaurant when they hadn't even ordered a meal yet. If Randall was so enamored of Beth was so sure he knew what kind of person she was, he would have known a fancy restaurant like that was not Beth's thing. And what made Randall think that Beth would be down with Rebecca joining them on the miniature golf course? And who the hell was Rebecca to try and clean up her son's mess for him? I did like the re-wwriting of the vows, stylishly directed by Kevin Hooks which further proved what kind of guy Randall is...who the hell would write five or six pages of marriage vows? That is not the action of a man preparing to share his life with someone else, that is the action of a man who wants to impress everyone with what a clever wordsmith he is. And I'm pretty sure I threw up in my mouth a little when Randall came home from their disastrous first date and said he was going to marry her. Susan Kelechi Brown and Sterling K Brown are magical together and I love this stupid show.

My guess was that the lengthy marriage vows -- especially when we got to hear some of them -- were a comic touch to the episode. It's so classic overthinking-Randall, and it was hilarious in spots.

And, having similarly lost myself in my first marriage (for very similar reasons), I found myself sobbing at parts of Beth's lines throughout the episode. When she said their lives wouldn't work unless she was the one doing the bending, I just about lost it. SO PERFECT for her character, and it said EXACTLY what we as viewers needed to hear to understand how she felt.

That whole fight/conversation scene in the bedroom was really well written. It wasn't trite or cheesy, wasn't stereotypical or melodramatic. It truly worked to move their story forward. Add on the odd future glimpses we've seen of Randall and his daughter in a hospital setting, and I do wonder just what becomes of those two down the road...

The show's use of flashbacks (and fast-forwards) continues to work beautifully and to flow smoothly. That's not an easy thing to do.

I too love this stupid show.
I just don't love Randall too much right now.

Oh, and yes, that mini-golf thing. WHO BRINGS THEIR MOTHER?? You'd think she could handle a "Hey, Mom, we're not coming to Sunday dinner this week" once in a while. Or does Randall just think he's honoring her by inviting her along? And WHY DID SHE GO? As a mom, I'd have said, "No, you guys go on ahead. I'm fine." What a buttinski.

Yeah, I've been wanting to smack Randall for the last two or three episodes and Rebecca going on the golf game was SO stupid. The woman is so self-absorbed.

Ep 18 started off as a real mixed bag but came back for a slam bang finale that had me reaching for the kleenex, thanks to director Ken Olin and the accustomed splendid performances. First of all, I really liked the morning coffee connection to all the time periods that started off the show, but then they started to lose me. Pre-teen Randall freaking out over his mother's face and then getting his brother and sister equally freaked out was just wrong. Deja's big speech about the scratchers was just contrived and overly melodramatic and a totally unbelievable approach for a child to come to parents navigating choppy marital waters...what she did was wrong and motivated Randall to almost make a very bad move. Randall giving up his job as city councilman was not the answer to Randall and Beth's problems and thank God, Beth realized what was, thank God she "found the door." I knew she would. As annoying as Rebecca was in the hospital, Kate was out of line and I'm glad she apologized. Thank God, Kevin and Zoe are done...I knew when he saw her with Annie he thought he could change her mind about children and I knew that wasn't happening. Kevin was great with Tess though, loved that scene. The last seven or eight minutes were devastating and brought the show beautifully full circle to the beginning...impressively written. Love this stupid show.

This is an episode I'm going to rewatch. I'm sure there are tie-ins, etc., that I missed in that single viewing (like the coffee recurrence you mentioned -- hadn't even noticed that!).

Funny we have different perspectives on Rebecca/Kate in this episode. I thought Rebecca taking notes and stepping in so much was intrusive. New parents should have as much space as they need/want to do their own thing. Of course, they let Rebecca redeem herself by tapping Jack's foot, thereby changing Kate's mind on how to view her mom.

But I saw nothing wrong with any of Kate's reactions to her mom's presence in the hospital. Kate has enough issues feeling inferior to her mom. She doesn't need her mom stepping in and being too "hands on" with baby Jack. Help is one thing (my mom came out and stayed with us after the birth of each of my four kids), but it should be asked for, not assumed.

I find present-day Rebecca a little annoying. (I have personal issues for this, partly. She reminds me of someone I truly dislike intensely. Not the character's fault, though!) 1970s Rebecca is definitely the mom figure Kate describes (making her children feel safe, always knowing what to do/say, etc.). But present-day Rebecca seems to assume everythign is about her. Once in a while they give her a few lines or an action that redeems her for that episode, but it feels forced.

And yes, Deja's scene was so contrived. She's always so self-aware and focused and seems to have completely matured to the point where she's more grown-up and level-headed than either Randall or Beth. Honestly, that's just silly.

Also, baby Jack would NOT be going home at two weeks old. He'd likely spend months in the NICU. They don't usually send preemies home till they're about 5 pounds. That's just sloppy writing.

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I agree that the last few minutes not only tied everything in the episode together (it felt a little haphazard for a while -- like the writers were aware they had a lot of loose season ends to wrap up in one season finale episode), but also did it in a beautiful way that gave us just the right amount of answers, while leaving the right questions untouched for next season.

I do agree with you regarding Rebecca and the baby...the whole taking notes and stuff was very intrusive and I understand Kate's feelings but I think she could have handled it a little more diplomatically.

Well, true. But a woman's emotions not long after even a normal birth are all over the map. A first-time mom, even more so. Add on the trauma and fear of a preemie, and you've got one unsettled new mama. Frankly, given her history with her mom, I thought she underreacted.

OK, just watched the season 4 premiere and I can't recall being more let down by a muddled and confusing season premiere. In an attempt to expand the Pearson family universe, almost a dozen new characters were introduced and only two connections were made to characters already on the canvas. I understand what the writers are trying to do, but they went overboard, it was just too confusing and too hard to commit to. Anyone tuning into the show for the first time probably tuned out after the first commercial break. The dinner with Jack and Rebecca was awesome, thanks to Milo and Tim Matheson, who was superb as Rebecca's dad. I just don't understand all that focus on brand new characters we know nothing about and reducing Randall, Beth, Kevin, Toby, and Kate to glorified cameos. Very odd beginning to season 4.

Someone elsewhere mentioned the disconnect with seeing baby Jack as sight impaired... but seeing him in the season 3 finale as dashing down a hallway, seemingly with his vision intact. I'm going to rewatch that episode to see if that's how they presented him. If so, then that's a big plot OOPS in my book.

And is the only connection with the female veteran (Sharp) that a drunk Nicky threw a rock through the window of her AA meeting? Or will they now become friends or something?

Did the writers think we were completely weary of our regular characters and needed a dozen new ones to keep us happy. If so, they were really way off base. Ugh.

I was also very disappointed with the season premiere episode. If it wasn't for the scene with Jack and Rebecca at the beginning of he episode, I would have turned it off. I thought I somehow DVRed the wrong show.

I know that they wanted to add some new characters this season, but trying to add them all at once just didn't work. It just felt like I was watching a bunch of strangers that I didn't care about, and by the time I figured out who they were, I almost didn't even care anymore.


I don't remember who was running down the hallway in the season finale, but I'll have to go back and watch that episode too. My guess is that it was probably Kevin's kid, not Jack.

I'm assuming that Nicky is going to become friends, (or maybe more than friends), with Sharp. The AA meeting was just to show how they met.


I hope they get back to the characters that we know and love in the next episode because they're adding too many characters, and it's just going to make it too confusing.

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Totally agree, I only figured out who two of the new characters actually were.

Well, I guess the season premiere was just a bad dream, because ep 2 seemed to be right back on track, looking a lot like the show I fell in love with three years ago. I can't believe I'm typing this, but this was the first episode ever where I loved every move Rebecca made. Her instincts about those girls befriending Kate were en pointe and I sensed it too and I understand Kate's resentment of Rebecca's interference, but I was totally with Rebecca. Even with the meeting revolving around the blind baby counselor (the wonderful Rosalind Chao), Rebecca did and said all the right things for the first time ever. I loved the quick shot of her quietly taking notes. Randall insisting on the dry run on the bus with Daijia was just parenting instincts in serious overdrive and made Randall look kind of silly. Even sillier was the Rocky inspired run up the steps with the family. LOVED Tess' haircut though. And it's only as I'm writing this that I'm grasping the connection between Kevin's treatment of Randall at the pool and his need to put his career on the back burner to help his uncle. I love this stupid show.

Just wrapped ep 3 and before anything else, HUGE kudos to Chris Sullivan on his weight loss, he looks amazing and I hope he keeps it up. Unfortunately, it looks like it could be the beginning of the end of Toby's marriage. I'm really bothered by the fact that Kate is in a completely opposite place because of the baby. It would be so much fun watching Toby and Kate losing weight together. These two are overdue for some happiness. Seventh grade Randall hyperventilating because he violated the dress code was stupid. Uncle Nicky's continuing journey into self-pity through a bottle of booze is also getting tiresome. We get that this guy is angry, it's time for a change to happen here, though Griffin Dunne is doing some of the finest acting of his career. I actually cheered when Randall fired that secretary and the reason it was important that the whole family sit down together and watch Arsenio Hall escaped me, but I still love this stupid show.

I think they watched Arsenio because Randall wanted to do it. I have a feeling Kevin thought it might be good to do something that Randall would consider a little daring: staying up late and watching a Late Night TV Show. (That was a big deal when I was a kid, at least.)

I'm assuming they can't have Kate and Toby both lose weight unless Chrissy Metz loses a lot of weight, too. Unsure what her personal situation is, but I appreciate that they realize that some people stress-eat and other people have to burn off their stress. When my divorce happened, I had to exercise all the time to burn off the adrenaline-panic. I lost 40 pounds in about six months.

When a somewhat related bad life-event happened about five years later, I dealt with the stress by eating and gained weight. Which I haven't gotten rid of to this day.

Plus, it's fair to say that men tend to lose weight more straightforwardly than women, who are constantly battling hormonal issues. Kate is post-partum and those hormones are ALL over the place. I totally get the stress-eating.

Have we seen any shots of Kate in the future? I don't think we have. In fact, we see Toby showing up at Kevin's house, saying Jack and his plus-one are "on their way," but we don't see Kate. So she may have actually died in between the present and those future shots. Not a pleasant thought, but entirely possible.

OK, ep 4 was kind of all over the place, I don't know what was going on here. Issues and characters that I thought had run their course were now center stage again, but I guess that's the point of this show, that it can go anywhere it wants to go in the lives of these people. Everything about "The Manny" was strange and I guess they were trying to connect Kevin bonding with this baby with bonding with Nicky and the lady soldier, but it just didn't work for me. I didn't even remember that "The Manny" wasn't cancelled when Kevin left the show. And are they trying to make us hate Kate? I understand her love of music and trying to instill that it in baby Jack, but she treated Toby like crap during the entire episode. I also hate the lady soldier...she's icy and humorless and the actress has no chemistry with Justin Hartley whatsoever. Didn't see the return of Beth's mother coming either, but I loved when Randall told her off and her bonding with Rebecca over their mutual grief. And even though I'm still fuzzy about what Kevin's through, my fuzziness turned to genuine fear when he bought that trailer. And again, bravo to the casting Gods on this show...the resemblance between teen Beth and Susan Kelechi Watson is uncanny. I love this stupid show.